Meanwhile, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have said the official 2025-30 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) could be out soon.

Both Rollins and Kennedy have already signaled support for revising the restrictive saturated fat limits in current guidelines — limits that keep schools, daycares, and other institutions from offering whole milk and other nutrient-dense foods. They’ve also spoken in favor of a simpler, more practical DGA framework that treats whole foods such as whole milk, full-fat dairy, meat, and eggs more fairly by including the scientific research that prior DGA committees have ignored.

According to the leaked 18-page draft, nutrition is front and center, with the MAHA Commission citing the shift away from whole foods toward highly processed diets as a major threat to public health.

Whole milk is highlighted in top three action items under “Food Deregulation.” These three potential steps would be welcome news for dairy:

• Remove restrictions on whole milk sales in schools, letting districts offer full-fat dairy alongside reduced-fat options.

• End mandatory reduced-fat rules in WIC, giving participants a true choice.

• Ease barriers for small dairies to process and sell their own products locally.

The leaked Commission draft outlines a “School Campaign” led by HHS collaborating with states and schools to promote healthier eating, tied to the updated DGAs. The emphasis is on whole foods — proteins, dairy, fruits and vegetables — while minimizing highly processed foods and added sugars.

Cross-agency collaboration is also a theme. USDA, HHS, Education, Veterans Affairs, Corrections, and Defense would work together to expand access to whole, nutritious foods in schools, prisons, military, VA hospitals, and other government-funded meal programs.

Farming and conservation are also addressed in a subsection that highlights soil health and stewardship. If left intact, this portion promises voluntary approaches through the popular Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) while “keeping decision-making local and practical with solutions from the farm, not Washington, D.C.”

Precision agriculture is also mentioned, with USDA and EPA working alongside private innovators to highlight conservation practices that keep working lands profitable and productive and continue investment in new approaches and technologies that target pesticide applications more effectively.

On policy, the draft reaffirms that USDA and HHS will publish the 2025-30 DGAs with reforms to how the process and advisory panels are structured.

FDA, meanwhile, is expected to revisit its “Front-of-Pack” labeling rules that were finalized under the prior administration after the revised DGAs are updated. The previous rules had allowed “healthy” claims only for certain foods. Among them, the only animal-derived foods on the list were eggs, fish, wild game and low-fat yogurt, excluding whole milk, full-fat yogurt, most cheeses and meats even if they are natural with no further processing or added ingredients.

Revisions here could be a turning point for the animal protein sector, including dairy.

The agencies are also working toward a federal definition of “ultra-processed food” to guide future research and policy.

Furthermore, NIH would be tasked with developing a real-world data platform on chronic disease prevention, including research on chemical exposures and water quality.

While the leaked draft is not yet final, it points toward long-sought reforms that could restore whole milk to school cafeterias, give WIC families more choice, and strengthen local dairy markets. We’ll be watching closely as USDA and HHS move toward officially releasing both the new DGAs and the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy in the weeks ahead.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: While the Administration’s leaked draft health strategy is encouraging, it’s important to remember that Congress must still act on the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act before anything changes in schools. Milkfat rules are tied up in both legislation and administrative rulemaking, which makes this bill a critical piece of the decades-long puzzle.

Whether you’ve called before or not, now is the time for all hands on deck to participate in a call-in campaign.

It’s simple: visit congress.gov/members/find-your-member, enter your address, and you’ll see the names and phone numbers of your lawmakers. Pick up the phone and tell them directly: The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act — H.R. 649 and S. 222 — is vital for the health and learning readiness of America’s children, and is broadly supported at the grassroots level by over 85% of survey respondents that included America’s dairy farmers, parents, teachers, and health professionals. This bill has been before Congress for 8 long years! It’s time for stalling tactics to end. Please listen to your voters, not lobbyists, and expedite passage!